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Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

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MARCUS ANNAEUS SENECA 9uni tarn dulcis estquam hie omnibus.' ^ ' Hisand unstudied charm <strong>of</strong> manner wincourtesyevery heart, yet so modest is he that not onlydoes he shrink from the very approaches <strong>of</strong>flattery, but listens with equal reluctance to thepraises which his numerous excellences havereally deserved.' ^The youngest brother Mela, to whom the'second book <strong>of</strong> Controversies ' is exclusivelyaddressed, though described by his father asmentally the best endowed <strong>of</strong> the three, madean early resolution to content himself with hishereditary rank and, leaving the career <strong>of</strong> honoursto his two accomplished brothers, to devotehimself to a life <strong>of</strong> studious retirement. Hisfather, though he did not conceal his own preferencefor an active career, acquiesced withoutmuch difficulty in this decision, declaring thathe was ready, when his two elder sons had putout to sea, to keep the third in harbour. ThatMela was his favourite son, and that this lack<strong>of</strong> ambition was a disappointment to one soenamoured <strong>of</strong> traditionary ways as the elder<strong>Seneca</strong>, will seem probable to the reader <strong>of</strong> thededication addressed to him; nor would he havebeen greatly consoled had he been able to foreseethat this contempt for the ancient Statedignities would not prevent his son from accumulatinga large fortune as procurator <strong>of</strong> the imperialdemesne under the principate <strong>of</strong> Nero.1'Cf .Statius, Sylv. ii. 7 Hoc : plusmundo, Aut dulcem generasse Gallionem.'2Nat. Quaest. iv. Praef.quam<strong>Seneca</strong>m dedisse

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